Say Goodbye
by Gwen Cooper Williams
Summary: Two weeks after 2x13, Ianto and Gwen have a job to do. WARNING: SPOILERS FOR 2x13!


Gwen sighed and looked around Toshiko's flat

Gwen sighed and looked around Toshiko's flat. She was there with Ianto to pack up any items related to Torchwood Tosh might have had at home before delivering official news of her death to her family. Gwen had decided since Tosh had a close-knit family it was only fair to allow the family to grieve for her, so they were leaving all of Tosh's personal belongings in her flat for her family. Ianto was busy packing the items up from Tosh's home office, so Gwen wandered into the kitchen.

She absently began to wash the dirty dishes that were in the sink - remnants of Tosh's last breakfast at home two weeks ago. Gwen looked around the organized kitchen, and her eyes fell onto the items taped to the front of the fridge. There was a birthday card from Owen, dated two birthdays ago, along with a photo of a smiling and laughing Owen with his arm slung around a grinning Tosh. Gwen guessed that the photo had been taken at least three years ago judging by how young the two looked. She removed the photo and placed it into her pocket. She would frame that and leave it on her desk at work. Two of her three best friends, gone forever. A weathered photo caught her attention next. Tommy. Ianto must have dug the photo out of the archives for Tosh, as Tommy was in full uniform. She took that photo down, too. Gwen left the third photograph for her family to see. It was a photo of the five of them, taken down at the pub around the corner from the hub. They each had a copy of it, and Gwen thought her family might like to know Tosh had friends.

Ianto placed his hands on Gwen's shoulders, startling her into nearly dropping the mug she was washing.

"I think I've got everything. Are you ready to go on to Owen's?"

Gwen looked down at her feet. "No," she said, tears starting to fall down her face. "Ianto, are you sure Owen is gone? I-I mean, he came back once, right?" There was hope in her voice. Oh, how Ianto wished he could tell Gwen that Owen would return, but he knew he couldn't. It had broken his heart watching Gwen the past two weeks. She refused to close up the locker that would contain Owen's frozen remains and she stayed there, holding his hand, wishing and hoping he would open his eyes. She tried kissing him after three days, remembering that Jack had finally come back after she kissed him. Nothing worked; it just caused her more and more heartbreak. Gwen had even tried kissing Tosh, a sight that had brought a smile to the corners of Ianto's mouth. But the two remained dead. Gwen had begged and pleaded with Jack to find another resurrection glove, but Jack remained firm that their two comrades would remain deceased. Ianto lightly patted Gwen on the back.

"I'm sorry, Gwen. I wish they could come back, too." He took her hand and led her out of Tosh's flat, closing and locking the door behind them.

The drive to Owen's former flat was quick and silent. The tears had dried on Gwen's cheeks. Not like her appearance mattered, anyway. Ianto certainty wasn't going to mind, and it wasn't as if Rhys understood what she was going through.

Gwen silently entered Owen's flat, tossing her jacket and keys on the side table like she always did when she was over. Gwen half expected Owen to wander out from his bedroom to see who had let themselves in. No one appeared. Ianto followed behind with the boxes. They were going to pack up all of Owen's belongings, donating what they could. Owen once had told Gwen he didn't have any family, so they were taking everything. Ianto handed Gwen a box he had put together and labeled 'Gwen's - do not store'. She smiled up and Ianto. "Thanks."

Gwen first gathered her personal items she had left at Owen's flat, noticing that she had been keeping an awful lot of her possessions there. She wondered briefly how she would manage to sneak the box back into her flat she shared with Rhys, and brushed it off. She had been sleeping either at the hub or in Ianto's spare room for the past two weeks. She couldn't even remember the last time she spoke with Rhys. She had told him Owen and Tosh were dead, that much she remembered, but she wasn't sure if she had actually told him where she was staying. She assumed he just knew where she was and knew she was still mourning for her friends. Or he had gotten fed up and left. She didn't want to think about that.

Gwen started packing up a few of her favourite items of Owen's. The purple t-shirt he loved to wear, his watch, the small teddy bear he kept on the corner of his nightstand. All went into the box. She sat down on the corner of his bed and picked up one of the pillows and inhaled. The pillow smelled like Owen. That, too, went into the box. She knew she would be using that tonight. She stretched out on the bed and deeply inhaled. The entire bed still managed to smell like Owen, even though he had been technically dead for months. Gwen closed her eyes and just breathed in and out, the scent of Owen engulfing her. Before long, she had fallen asleep and was being gently shaken awake by Ianto.

"Would you like us to keep the flat?" Gwen looked up at Ianto with a puzzled look on her face.

"What? Why would we do that?"

"You seem comfortable here. I thought you might want it as a sanctuary. We could leave some of Owen's things, and all the furniture." Gwen considered Ianto's offer. She did love Owen's flat, and if things started going sour with Rhys, she'd have a ready-made flat…but could she honestly live in Owen's old flat without him?

"What are we doing with Tosh's flat?"

"Her family will deal with it. We're turning it over to them. Why?"

"Just wondering." Gwen continued to think. "Yes, Ianto. I would like to keep Owen's flat."

"Good thing I didn't pack up much, then. Are you ready to go back to the hub?"

"As ready as I'll ever be. I guess we can…I guess we can close his drawer." Ianto smiled sympathetically at Gwen. Ianto knew it was taking a lot out of her to be able to allow the drawer to be finally closed.

Ianto still had one more surprise for Gwen. He knew how upset Gwen had been when she was initially told they would not be buried in a graveyard. Gwen had argued that without a grave, you couldn't properly mourn for the dead person. You couldn't exactly leave flowers at the doorway to the hub, either. Ianto had quietly purchased a plot in one of the local cemeteries and had stones erected for both Owen and Toshiko. Their bodies would remain frozen at the hub, but Gwen would get graves to leave flowers on and mourn at. Later, Ianto would regret the decision after spending many nights carrying a sleeping Gwen out of the cemetery. It was a good thing he picked a plot within line of a CCTV camera.

Later that evening, Ianto and Gwen returned to Owen's flat to sort through things and to get rid of anything Gwen wouldn't want in her sanctuary. The first thing to go was Owen's extensive collection of dirty magazines. Gwen started chucking them into the fireplace until the fire was a bright pyre of naked images.

Gwen sat her box of items down in the foyer. "I think I want to sleep here tonight. Will you stay with me?"

Ianto looked around Owen's flat. Owen didn't exactly have stellar guest accommodations, as his usual overnight guests stayed in his bed with him. "If you'd like. I suppose I can make the couch into an acceptable bed."

Gwen blushed. "I was hoping you'd stay in the bedroom with me," noticing the shocked look on Ianto's face she quickly added, "as a friend, only. I think I need someone to hold me tonight."

"Of course, Gwen."


End file.
